Hoosiers try to make sense of uncertainty over Affordable Care Act’s future

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A group of people in Bloomington met to talk about questions many across Indiana have about the future of the Affordable Care Act.

If you thought healthcare was confusing before there's a good chance it could get even more so; at least in the short term, as Republicans plan to make sweeping changes to so-called "Obamacare." Repealing it is among President-Elect Donald Trump's priorities for his first 100 days in office.

Democracy for Monroe County held the event in Bloomington. The progressive group largely supports a single payer healthcare system, but acknowledges that will not happen under a Republican-led Congress and White House. Still, Chair Rob Deppert said the questions over the future cross party lines.

"I think the whole political spectrum is asking all the same questions and trying to figure it out," Deppert said.

Deppert has been selling insurance on the Marketplace as a broker since the ACA went into effect, and with companies going in and out year to year, he said it has become confusing and prices have gone up for some customers.

"I’ve had clients that I’ve moved all around and tried to keep happy and really, it’s been a nightmare," Deppert said.

Others, like Sura Gail Tala, are worried about the low-cost insurance they're getting right now. Tala receives the state-funded insurance for low income families. She's worried that things could go back to what she was paying before.

"I had crazy insurance, I paid $300 a month for a $10,000 deductible for 10 years. I never saw a doctor in those 10 years," Tala said.

Dr. Robert Stone, who runs Hoosiers for a Common Sense Health Plan, also spoke at the event. He said that he believed it would be a heavy lift to find a way to make changes without leaving people in a lurch.

"Now they’ve got to come up with something and they’ve got to come up with it fast," Stone said.

While no one has answers yet, this group said they would be keeping an eye on things and hoped to see change for the better.

"This is going to become a hotter and hotter issue, because everybody needs health care," Stone said.